Reagent kit for detecting sex hormone and method for detecting sex hormone using same

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a reagent kit for detecting a sex hormone, which contains a first reagent containing a metal nanoprobe in which a sex hormone and a Raman reporter are immobilized and a second reagent containing a magnetic particle in which an antibody for detecting the sex hormone is immobilized, and a method for detecting a sex hormone using the same.

Description

BACKGROUND1. Field of Invention[0001]The present disclosure relates to a reagent for detecting a sex hormone based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (hereinafter, ‘SERS’), a method for detecting a sex hormone using the reagent and a method for diagnosing precocious puberty using the method.2. Discussion of Related Art[0002]On average, girls begin puberty around ages 10-11 and boys begin around ages 13-14 in Korea. And, on average, girls reach the sexual maturity level of adults at age 15 and boys at age 18, when they stop to grow.[0003]In general, precocious puberty refers to puberty occurring before 8 years in girls or 9 years in boys. That is to say, breast development in girls before 8 years or testes development in boys before 9 years is called precocious puberty.[0004]Recently, precocious puberty is rising meteorically as a social issue. Increased environmental hormones and childhood obesity are known as the cause of the rapid increase in patients with precocious puberty.[00...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent is about a new method for diagnosing a small molecule called a sex hormone using a sandwich immunoassay. This method uses two antibodies that bind to the hormone in a way that resembles a sandwich, but the hormone is a small molecule and not a large protein like most other antigens. The method uses a competitive immunoreaction where the antibodies react with the hormone and with a metal nanoprobe in a sample solution. By measuring the intensity of the signal, the method can quickly and accurately diagnose the concentration of the hormone in the sample. This helps to simplify the diagnosis procedure and reduce the time required for diagnosis.

Problems solved by technology

However, it has disadvantages in that detection is impossible when the concentration of estradiol (or testosterone) in the sample is low and diagnosis error occurs frequently because the limit of detection (LOD) is 30-100 pg / mL.

However, the accuracy is very low when the concentration of estradiol (or testosterone) in the sample is low and the sample may be contaminated by radiation.

However, the detection method is complicated and requires very long time and a lot of cost.

For these reasons, it is not suitable as a method for clinical diagnosis in hospitals.

However, the presently commercially available diagnostic instruments show large standard deviations (SD) and coefficients of variation (CV) even for an estradiol concentration range of about 50-200 pg / mL as shown in Table 1 (source: College of American Pathologists, www.cap.org / ) and cannot detect estradiol at concentrations below 10 pg / mL.

Accordingly, accurate diagnosis of precocious puberty is impossible with the currently available immunodiagnosis techniques and there is no gold standard method for its diagnosis.

As described above, there is no method for accurately detecting sex hormones, e.g., estradiol or testosterone, at concentrations of 10 pg / mL or lower, at present.

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